Cervelo TestTeam Presents 2010 Team in Portugal

Both men's and women's Cervelo TestTeams are hungry for even more success in 2010. Roadcycling.com reports from the team presentation and training camp near Faro, Portugal.

With Roadcycling.com on site, Cervelo TestTeam launched their sophomore season today at a gala presentation in the midst of the team's two-week training camp near sunny Faro, Portugal. The presentation included all riders from the men's and women's teams, staff, management, team owners as well as representatives from most of the team's partners and suppliers.

According to team spokesmen success in 2009 was achieved both on and off the bike as the men's and women's teams performed beyond expectations throughout the season. The men brought home 25 trophies while the women scored a whooping 43 victories, finishing first in the UCI standings.

Going into the team's second season, new General Manager Joop Alberda has set an even higher goal for the squad. "We want Cervélo TestTeam to become the new standard in cycling," said Alberda. "What happened on the team last year was amazing. The standard they set is already pretty high. It will be up to the cyclists to challenge themselves. We will be there to help them." Alberda background in other sports give him unique knowledge that the team hopes can be beneficial and help give the team and additional advantage over its competition. The team hopes that Alberda will be able to implement management ideas from other sports that will be new and unique to the world of cycling.

"I've learned a lot from other sports that can be applied to cycling," Alberda commented. "In the end, all sports are basically the same. Everyone wants to be the winner. We take a realistic approach to our cyclists that is more humanistic.

We want to continue with this new approach to cycling, with different ways of training, new ways of reaching out to fans, and greater contributions to the development of bicycle technology."

Success isn't measured by victories alone, something that Alberda says makes the Cervélo TestTeam and the brand stand out from the pack. While podiums are the ultimate goal, the team is also focused on its groundbreaking product development, fan access and hospitality initiatives.

"Cervélo TestTeam is one of the few teams in modern cycling that has a clear vision. They have core values and they want to stick to them," he says. "Winning is beautiful, but winning isn't the only thing. We want to work as a unit on our core values and become the team that everyone wants to join."

The team's focus on hospitality and product development has been very visible during our stay with the team over the weekend. Representatives from various team sponsors are taking time to sit down with the riders to discuss their products, how the riders use them, and their likes and dislikes. On the sunny and Spring infused balcony earlier this afternoon, Castelli Sales and Marketing Manager Steve Smith had a long discussion with many of the team's female riders about new product ideas, ideas for further improvements to existing products, and - important to the women - the fashion designs for the 2010 season. It is clear that the team's female riders are highly respected and aren't ranked below